Eve Online for download

Iceland-based Eve Online developer CCP has grabbed back the publishing rights for its MMORPG and is now offering the full game for download on its website (460MB), with a subscription offer of $19.99 for those without an account, giving you 30 days playing time at a reduced price.

The game was published in Europe by Crucial, and Simon & Schuster/Vivendi in North America, but it's fair to say its potential wasn't exactly maximised when it was released back in May. I mean, just try and find a copy in your local software store.

If you, like us, are wondering what Eve Online is all about, then imagine a massively multiplayer Elite, crusing around the universe as a spaceship captain trading, fighting and communicating with other players. Shame we never have time to devote to playing these time-sapping games.

Accordingly, CCP is pretty chuffed to have wrenched its baby back from its unloving foster parents, and has thrown in some extra content to celebrate. “We are very pleased to be in a position where we can contribute equally to both development and publishing” said CCP CEP Ivar Kristjansson.

“Our player base has been growing steadily since the launch of EVE-Online in May. Our game servers are in good shape and we are technically ready for much faster growth now.” said Hilmar V. Petursson CTO. ”The player community is a great source of new ideas for the future development of the game. EVE-Online is an evolving, living game and we can’t wait to see how the players will react to some of the new stuff we will be adding in the future.”

We never got around to reviwing this, so any readers who want to let the world know what it's like, feel free. You never know, you might win our next Reader Review prize!